Ryan Murphy Re-Creates 1981 LA as Land of Sun and Serial Killers in 'The Shards'

Ryan Murphy re-creates 1981 Los Angeles as a sun-soaked world of serial killers in "The Shards." The FX and Hulu series follows a fictionalized Bret Easton Ellis through prep schools, predators, and privilege in early 1980s Los Angeles. Production designer Cat Smith and costume designer Lou Eyrich built the look with stark interiors, vintage references, and a late 1970s to early 1980s palette. Locations including the Sherman Oaks Galleria, Westwood Village, the Bruin Theater, and the Fox Theater were recreated for the show. The team also transformed a Taco Bell into a Hamburger Hamlet and used the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach for the mall scenes. Music, fashion, and cars help shape the series, with references to "Moving in Stereo," MTV, and "Breakfast Club" style characters. Producers say the series is about friendship, coming of age, closeted fear, memory, and nostalgia, set against 1981 Los Angeles.